What We’re Reading: Top State Stories 6/7

The Legislature sent Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin a bill that calls on state health care regulators to develop an annual list of up to 15 drugs that have seen the biggest price increases. Their manufacturers would then have to justify the increases to the attorney general’s office. Several states have considered so-called price transparency bills, but Vermont is the first to pass one.

The U.S. Education Department report found 6.5 million students — one out of every 10 — were chronically absent in the 2013-14 school year. It also found stubborn disparities in discipline, but encouraging strides in cutting the overall number of suspensions.

State revenue collections hit a six-year low last month, as Oklahoma's economy continues to slump. May collections were lower than May 2015 for every major revenue stream, including taxes on income, sales, motor vehicles and oil and natural gas production.

If American Indian candidates win all 11 of the seats they are running for this fall, the percentage of Native Americans in the Montana Legislature would be representative of their population in the state for the first time.

Californians likely will be asked to decide in November whether to expand parole to thousands more inmates, now that the court has cleared the way for the question to be on the ballot. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown says the early release of inmates is needed to comply with a federal court order to reduce the prison population.

Labor unions in the District of Columbia are reporting that they’ve reached a deal with the mayor and city council to increase the minimum wage for most workers to $15 an hour by 2020. The wage for tipped workers would increase from $2.77 to $5 under the deal.

Despite support from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, officials in a rural Texas county have agreed to ban the display of Christian crosses on sheriff’s vehicles to settle a lawsuit by the national Freedom From Religion Foundation.

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